Roaring twenties after Trianon?
Jazz, Charleston and early mass culture in Hungary
Rapporteur: Eszter Vámos (PhD) historian
After the First World War, the life of the former bourgeois middle class in Hungary was significantly transformed. The changes covered almost all aspects of life: housing, transport, dress, hygiene, body image, manners, the status of women. Middle-class fashions were now conveyed through new mass culture media: mainly cinema and illustrated magazines, which were mainly about American life. The spread of a culture of foreign origin could cause anxiety in some people, who feared that a uniform world culture would erase national characteristics. The aim of this lecture is to show how mass culture conquered broad sections of society in post-Trianon Hungary, and how the political leadership took steps (with dubious success) to contain or mould jazz bands, modern dance, movies and other modern entertainment in its own image...
Entrance is free of charge.
Location: the Agóra Chamber Theatre